The vet tried to get a sample at her visit, but her bladder was dry. She sent L home with a sterile cup filled with (a microscopic amount of) non-absorbant black pellets that are supposed to mimic kitty litter. When we added them to the spare litter box, they looked ridiculous, and of course kitty was like "hells no". And now she hasn't gone all day. I don't think she will with little to no litter in her box. We have 14 days to make this happen, any advice?

_________________my photosfood blog"Tofu might make you gay and kill you, but at least you'll have luscious soy boobs" adah

sometimes people put a liner or plastic bag over the normal litter inside the box and then take what collects on top of the plastic. that never worked with my cat, because she just tore up the plastic, but i know it's worked for other people. some kitties just can't be fooled, though. you could try a light layer of newspaper strips on the bottom of the box; it'll absorb some urine, but probably not all of it.

_________________"rise from the ashes of douchebaggery like a fancy vegan phoenix" - amandabear"I'm pretty sure the moral of this story is: fork pants." - cq

Using aquarium rocks (not the little ones that produce a lot of dust) has worked for me in the past. I have thankfully also had a cat in the past who would go in a litter pan with nothing in it,vwhich made the urine easy to collect. Good luck on the urine hunt! It is no easy task.

Thanks for all the advice! I managed to get the sample the old fashioned way - she peed in the cup!! Mittens' litter box is actually in our second bathroom, which, because I the main scooper of the box, I end up using more often. Last night I was using the bathroom, and she decided she would too. I had the cup right there and figured I try stick it u DDR her, and ya know, it worked!

Vet ran the tests last night, and the analysis was not so great:they called this morning and she has stage 1 kidney failure, so I am a bit blue today...

_________________my photosfood blog"Tofu might make you gay and kill you, but at least you'll have luscious soy boobs" adah

i know it's always bad to hear that something's not right with your kitty, but stage 1 is so early! most cats don't even have any symptoms at that stage, and it gives you a huge head start on caring for her and monitoring everything. obviously everything varies from cat to cat, but kidney disease can progress quite slowly, so you should try not to be too blue. my cat was diagnosed as stage 3 about three years ago, and she's still doing pretty well (aside from the usual ailments that come with being a billion years old).

_________________"rise from the ashes of douchebaggery like a fancy vegan phoenix" - amandabear"I'm pretty sure the moral of this story is: fork pants." - cq

Acr, that is good to hear, thank you! I'm hoping that diet might be able to help her out a bit. It's low protein for kidney failure, yes?

Because we adopted Mittens as a senior kitty, we knew she'd probably have some health issues along the road. She's 12, and had been at the shelter for 6 months before we got her. She wasn't a popular choice, I guess. But we love her to pieces!

I'm not a fan of hills science, and I knew that's what they're going to put her on, but if it gives her the right balance then I guess we will try that

_________________my photosfood blog"Tofu might make you gay and kill you, but at least you'll have luscious soy boobs" adah

yeah, low protein/low sodium/low phosphorus. my cat hated the science diet food, but she likes the royal canin LP formulas and has done well on those and a handful of vet-approved non-prescription foods.

_________________"rise from the ashes of douchebaggery like a fancy vegan phoenix" - amandabear"I'm pretty sure the moral of this story is: fork pants." - cq